Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling Cheyenne WY

There will be a lot of people reading this with the attitude of "nobody forced the drugs on them. I don't feel sorry for them. They made their bed, let them lie in it." I used to be one of those people. I thought that drug addicted people were the dregs of society and deserved whatever ill fate befell them. Sadly, I learned the hard way that addiction is a brain disease and one that might be manageable but as of today, certainly is not curable.

Be Smart, Don't Start

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Be Smart, Don't Start

Sheryl Mcginnis

Friday, September 14, 2007 Addiction is a brain disease! Not many people realize this therefore I feel it incumbent upon myself to try to explain a little about addiction. I am not a counselor, I don't have any letters after my name, I am not an expert in the traditional sense of the word on addiction. But I am an expert in the school of hard knocks concerning addiction.

For 14 years I watched my youngest son struggle to overcome the Addiction Monster. Nothing worked. Rehabs are a joke. My son was in 5 different rehabs throughout the years and each time came out just as bad as he went in. When he left the last rehab he was actually worse than when he went in. This rehab cost $10,000 for a 21 day stay.

If you have a few extra dollars and would like to make a lot of money, might I suggest to you that you start your own rehab clinic? It is a shamelessly easy way to steal money out of people's pockets, usually an already cash-strapped parent.

It is foolish to think you can take a person who has been addicted for a long time (14 years in my son's case) and miraculously cure them in 3 weeks. The only thing the rehabs cure are the health of the family budget. It is drained, exhausted. And the drug addicted person still suffers from the disease.

There will be a lot of people reading this with the attitude of &quotnobody forced the drugs on them. I don't feel sorry for them. They made their bed, let them lie in it.&quot I used to be one of those people. I thought that drug addicted people were the dregs of society and deserved whatever ill fate befell them. Sadly, I learned the hard way that addiction is a brain disease and one that might be manageable but as of today, certainly is not curable.

Nobody puts down the person suffering from diabetes or cancer. Some of these people may also have brought their disease on themselves, with bad diets or smoking. People will sympathize with the diabetics or cancer sufferers but no one will sympathize with the drug addicted person, yet all three suffer from a disease and quite often it is a self-inflicted disease.

Most drug addicted people begin their drug usage as children. Therein lies the crux of the problem. They are children when they begin their walk down this path to hell. And what child has not made a mistake? Which one of us has not made a mistake? Most of our mistakes will have no long lasting repercussions. However, using drugs can kill. Some people have died on their first hit of cocaine. Most don't and they go on to consume more and more quantities of the drug.

Some people are instantly addicted on their first hit of cocaine, and they spend the rest of their lives trying to duplicate that initial first high. When regular cocaine is no longer enough to satisfy their cravings, they can graduate to the crack form of cocaine, followed by heroin and crystal meth and anything in between.

Even though parents may have experimented with drugs during college, it's essential that they feel comfortable discussing the dangers of being a user. It is the healthy behaviors that parents exhibit now that matter, not what occurred 25 years ago. Read and get more tips on how to communicate with your college child about drugs.